Sudan Official Warns Over Indicting President

KHARTOUM, Sudan – Sudan may revert to a hard-line Islamic regime if the International Criminal Court indicts the country’s president on charges of war crimes in Darfur, said Sudan’s intelligence chief.

The comments by Salah Abdallah published in Saturday’s newspapers come as the Hague, Netherlands-based court is weighing whether to seek the arrest of President Omar al-Bashir. He is accused by the court’s prosecutor of masterminding attempts to wipe out African tribes in Darfur with a campaign of murder, rape and deportation.

“Our message to those who stand behind the ICC is that we were Islamic fundamentalists but have become moderate and civilized and this continues to be our conviction,” Abdallah said. “If they press us to return to our past position, we will no doubt return. And if they want us to return into hard-liners anew, that is a simple thing to do. And we are capable of doing it.”